GRIM
by Wolfboywarrior
Summary: Grace Spades has never had the best of luck, witnessing the deaths of her parents twice, losing her home in the Snowy Forest, and nearly losing her own life multiple times. That all changes when one day while surviving in the harsh faunus slums of Vytal she meets a little faunus girl who shares her beliefs and she decides that to end the faunus persecution she must become a hero.
1. Chapter 1: A GRIMM Nightmare

** Hey guys, again I apologize for the lack of updates I will be getting to writing again later on this evening. This was something I was hoping to do later on after I did all my others but ever since Monty Oum's passing I feel it is important that I get this to you guys sooner rather than later. Which honestly I wish I did this earlier in the month and it upsets me that I never did. Why I decided on this fanfiction was originally for any and all RWBY fans out there, plus any of my veteran readers who are in the process of reading my other stuff already. However now that Monty's gone I've decided that this is one of the only current things I can do to honor his memory. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this, my own little creative way of paying tribute to a great artist who was a great inspiration for me and I'm sure a lot of you guys as well.**

_Somewhere in Snowy Forest…_

Our fireplace seemed like a warm blanket compared to the outside winter snow as I sat with my brother Jack trying to make sure I wasn't about to freeze like a baby Ursa in hibernation. I rubbed my hands together as Dad walked in with some logs. Now my brother Jack, he sort of was whacked with most of Dad's genes, he had the same boyish face, dark emerald hair, he even inherited Dad's protective streak of looking out for others. Although he was much thinner compared to our father's slightly muscular build. I wasn't any different, we both shared the same bright emerald green eyes, only I got most of our Mom's half of the genes. Despite my boyish face I inherited our mother's long hair, only instead of her long black hair mine was a bit more of a brighter jade. Dad would even tell me that I got mom's beautiful smile that always seemed to attract a person's attention. He'd even say when I grin it was always the crooked mischievous grin that always gave way to her childish rebellious side. Honestly I could always never see the resemblance between me and my folks but I loved them anyway.

"Grace Spades if you pass out in that blanket a Nevermore might come to pluck you out and take you away." Mom said as she came out from the kitchen wiping her hands off from washing the dishes as her husband fed some extra logs into the fire. I immediately squeaked as I hopped up off the floor and glared at her; my face a deep crimson from embarrassment.

"Mo-o-o-m! I'm only 4 years old! You know that stuff doesn't scare me anymore!" I said in a deep and outright lie as I could feel my legs trembling under my dress. Dad chuckled as Jack grinned at me and raised his fist into the air.

"Don't worry Grace! If a Nevermore tries carrying you off I'll just punch it in the eyes over and over until he lets you go!" Jack said still carrying a goofy grin on his face as he shook his clenched fist tightly. I could only giggle as my fears of being a bite-sized Nevermore snack instantly dissipated. Jack was only 4 years older than me and he was already my hero, even with all the spooky bedtime stories he would read to me at night he'd always end off with "Don't worry Grace, there isn't a Grimm for miles or anywhere on the continent that break through me to get to you". It was always so reassuring especially with how goofy he always looked when he grinned.

"Alright bedtime you two, we got a long day tomorrow if we are going to go to Forever Fall forest to get that honey you always wanted." Dad said as he picked up my sleepy form already about to lose consciousness again from the warmth of the fireplace. I never liked admitting it but it was always fun when Dad would carry me, it always made me feel so safe. As Dad set me down on my bed and tucked me in, Jack walked in and immediately began looking for another book to read me another story. Despite his energy he looked about as sleepy as I was, Dad chuckled as he ruffled his hair.

"Try not to put our little princess to sleep too fast alright Jack?" He said as Jack blushed and nodded before hopping on the side of my bed smiling down at me.

"So Grace, how about I tell you about the huntress who saved some faunus from a giant pack of beowolves?" He said as he gave up looking for a story book and decided to make one of his own up. I could only squirm with glee as I smiled up at him. "That's definitely a new one big bro!" I said excitedly as he chuckled, happy to put another smile on my face as usual.

He grinned and began to tell his tale. "Well there was once this beautiful huntress, who back before the kingdoms got situated helped keep the peace in protecting people from the creatures of Grimm."

He could see that my eyes were glistening with admiration that a beautiful huntress would care so much about a race of beings that; since the war many years ago hadn't been getting good treatment by their fellow humans. I used to hear Dad complain about how sickening it was at how the faunus were always treated. Mom would always have this look on her face as if she was about to cry every time she saw news involving a faunus being assaulted or beaten on her scroll.

I then imagined myself as being a heroic and adventurous huntress, out to protect the faunus from dirty bad people who'd look to harm or belittle them. When Jack finally finished the story I had already drifted back down onto the pillow and fell asleep. The last thing I heard before I began to dream was Jack's muffled footsteps as he went to bed himself.

I had only slept for at least a couple of hours before I woke up to a massive chill in the room. As I opened my eyes I looked around, the window was wide open and Jack's bed lay empty; the covers haphazardly tossed off to the side as if he had woken up in a hurry.

"Jack…?" I whispered as I got out of bed and stepped towards the window trying to close it. It was then I heard the most horrifying sound I had ever heard in my life. The sounds of howling echoed in the bitterly cold forest; dozens of them, and that was when I realized what was making those sounds.

"Beowolves…!" I muttered as massive dark furry figures began wandering out of the forest brush, their red eyes glinting in the darkness like jewels as the moon eerily reflected off of their bone-like masks. They didn't seem to notice me as they walked towards the house with hungry demonic snarls that made my heart freeze as overwhelming fear began to fill my being. T

The door suddenly slammed open behind me as I heard Jack's voice call out. "Grace stay away from the windows…!" He said as he quickly pulled me away from the open window, the snarling and howling outside getting louder and louder as the terrifying Grimm creatures drew closer and closer.

"Big brother…? What's going on?" I said as my teeth began to chatter from the cold and being scared. He didn't answer as we went to the living room and found our Mom and Dad; Mom was holding a kitchen knife while Dad had his rifle in hand.

The both of them seemed to be trembling with fear as well as Dad tried to take charge of the situation. "It's okay honey we are going to be fine just stay away from the windows!" he said as suddenly we heard a loud bang ram into the front door.

"Oh God…they are trying to get in." Mom mumbled as the outside looked like a sea of crimson red eyes circling the house as if they were sharks. And from the barking we could all hear I somehow knew there was an alpha somewhere out there giving orders to try and find a way in to get at the humans inside. Finally as we heard loud thumping noises on the roof it suddenly cracked and broke open as a single beowolf came through. Dad quickly turned and fired one burst from his shotgun as the scatter pellets shredded its skull sending the corpse hurtling into the fireplace. He turned and smiled at us as blood from the creature had splattered onto his face and shirt.

"See honey? We are going to be alright." He said just before the door busted open along with most of the wall as another beowolf came through, its arms wide open and claws at the ready. This time Dad wasn't so lucky as he turned and fired another burst only to barely wound the creature before its jaws closed right onto his shoulder. Mom and I both screamed in fright as Jack stood there silently shocked and horrified as his own father was being horrifically ripped apart in front of him.

"We have to get out of here now!" Mom yelled as she picked me up and tried to make a run for the entrance that the Beowolf had just come through only suddenly I was launched over onto the floor. As I hit my head on the floor I was momentarily stunned; my vision blurred as I tried to stand up when all I could do is turn and see my mother's body, only her head was missing as the vulpine culprit began tearing into the rest of her with its sharp teeth.

And where was Jack? Was he dead too? Was I going to die alone? I tried to slowly crawl away until I saw Jack next to me slowly grab hold of my sleeve and slowly drag me into a corner where he began to smear more blood and gore onto our already crimson soaked bodies. As I tried to speak Jack quickly held up his finger telling me to be silent as more members of the pack began to enter the house to feast on Mom and Dad's corpses. Some even began searching the house to sniff us out as well. It was then that I noticed that Jack and I were sitting beside the fireplace where Dad had killed the first beowolf and that Jack must have smeared its blood on the both of us to throw off our scent from the rest of the pack. I quickly clung onto Jack as I tried to hide the horrific sight that was playing out before me in my mind. Only this sight would remain buried within my mind and within my nightmares for many years to come. As hours passed I felt my clothes begin to cling to my skin as the stinging cold from the snow outside began to grow more harsh. I kept silent however as we watched the beowolves continue to move about the house before finally they retreated back into the forest outside.

As we were finally granted some breathing room I tried to speak, only my lips felt as if they had been completely frozen shut. I could only tremble violently as Jack looked down at me.

"Oh no…" He whispered before he struggled to stand up as well and carry me to our room where we would normally keep all of the blankets. As we entered the room we saw that it had been trashed, the bed was practically destroyed, sheets had been torn and claw marks covered the walls. Jack immediately noticed that my drawer where my other clothes were had been knocked over face down and broken open as the majority of my winter clothes inside had been torn apart.

"J-Jac…k…..I'm so cold…." I stammered as I could see the terrified look in my older brothers' eyes. He quickly opened the closet and pulled out as many blankets as he could. From the shivering I could tell he was becoming very cold as well. The only thing keeping him from keeling over like I was pure adrenaline; he sighed nervously as he said.

"Alright Grace I've got an idea but you're going to need to trust me alright?" He said as I did all I could to slowly nod. He then proceeded to undress me as he wrapped some blankets together to try and form a makeshift tunic. I tried to help me as much as I could as my bare skin felt as if it was screaming at me in agony from the searing cold. He then put the tunic on me as I helped him wrap as many blankets around me as was possible to keep me warm. It was then I collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again I looked up to see my brother with tears in his eyes shivering from the cold as he loaded me into our little red wagon and piled more blankets into it to hide me away and keep me as warm as he could. As I tried to move I heard him pick up the front handle on the wagon and began to pull it as hard as he could, towing me away from what was once our home. The howling from the beowolves still echoed in the forest all around us as questions of whether or not my brother and I were going to escape alive still remained in my mind.

"It's going to be okay sis…we are going to be fine…I'm not going to lose you like Mom and Dad…" were words I could hear him muttering like a prayer before I felt myself drifting off into unconsciousness again.

I could hear my heart beating slowly as I lay there. I knew I was dying of something that my mom told me about. I think it was called hypothermia, I was so scared, I didn't want to die, I didn't want Jack to die, and he was the only family I had left. The wind seemed grow calmer as it almost seemed to whistle a sweet lullaby in my ears. It was so sweet and soothing I almost felt tempted to let it take me away.

It was only then that sounds of howling woke me up again as Jack struggled to pull the wagon along. As the wind began to grow harsh I began to hear distant barking and snarling growing closer and closer as loud rapid footsteps in the snow resonated with it. And with each breeze and gust of wind I could hear the beowolves as if they were right behind us. Was it me, or was the wind actually helping me? I was sure that the cold had either already killed me or I was becoming seriously delirious. As the wagon stopped I tried to sit up. I saw Jack walk to the side and pick up a snow covered fallen branch and step in front of me brandishing it as a weapon.

"I'm not going to let them take you Grace…" He muttered as the same pack from before rushed from the darkness of the forest and surrounded us snarling as they saw Jack with the tree branch. And from between the crowd a large giant beowolf as a large crack lay present on its mask forming into a scar ending down at its muzzle as it seemed to give Jack a crooked evil grin. Jack tried running at it and took a swing of the branch as if it were a sword. The creature easily dodged Jack's feeble attempt and lightly nudged him causing him to fall over to the ground. The alpha male was enjoying itself toying with the human prey before it finally devoured the child.

"No…no…" I muttered watching the nightmare begin again before my eyes. As I struggled to get out of the wagon a swirling of snow began to form around us from the growing intense wind. I let out a large scream and pulled my arm out through the blankets as my hand seemed to be glowing with a bright green energy. This caused the gust of wind to suddenly increase in strength as branches on trees began snapping, some trees themselves breaking from their roots and smashing into some of the Grimm creatures that surrounded us. Others struggled to remain on the ground as many were lifted into the air and crashed into the surrounded trees; their bodies impaled on the sharp branches.

As the alpha male beowolf itself prepared to finish off Jack a branch caught in the gust immediately plunged through his chest killing it instantly after letting out a loud yelp. As the gust finally cleared I could hear the rest of the pack retreating in terror as I collapsed in exhaustion back onto the wagon bed and slept. It was only until after Jack and I had crossed the border into the Vale Kingdom and entered the city of Vytal that I learned that night was the first night that my semblance had awoken and my aura was the only thing keeping me alive.

**And there you have it folks! I hope you guys enjoyed the start of Grace's adventure in Vale. I'll get updates for my other stories up this evening so I'll cya guys later!**


	2. Chapter 2:Welcome to Vytal

My first memories of Vytal were filled with grey depressing skies and tiny snowflakes as I faded in and out of consciousness in that little worn out wagon. From the sounds of my older brother's heavy breathing I knew he wasn't doing so well either in the stinging cold. The only things keeping him going was his will and the fact that he was just plain stubborn. We had reached the city two days ago, at least that's what Jack had told me once during one of the times I was conscious.

The creatures of Grimm were no longer nipping at our feet. And yet it seemed our newest problem was that our fellow human beings seemed either reluctant or just completely unwilling us into their homes. I could hear Jack grumbling angrily about it as he huffed and puffed wheeling our wagon along across the frozen snow covered sidewalks and roads.

"Are they even human? Why won't they let us in? They are treating us like trash…stupid cruel monsters…worse than Grimm…" He would say, echoing my own disgust as it took almost every ounce of strength within me to remotely clench my fists. Ever since I had brought the sudden blizzard-like storm that had saved our lives from that giant pack of beowolves I had lost nearly all energy to move. I could barely even speak as I listened to Jack soldier on while for me it seemed as if death was warming over.

_Please…someone help us…I don't want to die…I don't want Jack to die…he's all I have left… _I thought as I could feel my tears flowing freely from my eyes causing the already unbearable cold to sting my cheeks. I continued silently uttering that prayer as I slowly drifted off to sleep hoping some deity or at least someone was listening…

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Jack continued shuffling through the snow pulling the wagon along as the snowfall began to worsen once again. He looked over in the wagon at his little sister Grace; who was still buried under a small mountain of blankets and torn fabric he had hoped would keep her warm. Now all of those blankets were soaked through and all he could do was rely on her to stay alive for a little bit longer while he looked for help. Only they had been denied that help ever since they arrived in town. As another night drew close he felt his foot catch on something as he tripped and collapsed into the snow. He turned his head as he lay there in the snow, ignoring the pain he was feeling in his leg and he stared at some of the brightly lit homes across the closest street. He silently cursed all of the human families inside for turning their backs on them. As he tried getting up the thought of them dying in the cold came to mind.

He could only wonder if anyone was going to let them in and maybe adopt them, so maybe some fraction of their lives would go back to normal. He sat up against the wall and stared up at the sky as memories of their old life in the Snowy Forest came to mind. Mom's deliciously warm bread, Dad's goofy grinning face when he'd come home with good news, and Grace's warm and beautiful smile.

"Sorry sis…" he whispered as he reached into the wagon and caressed his sister's hair. He had never felt so scared, as it grew darker all of the lights at the nearest homes began to click off. Jack watched as one by one, all the lights disappeared.

"This sucks…this is worse than being chased by Beowolves…" He whispered as he leaned against the wagon, his eyes growing heavy from the cold.

"Well sis…at least we get to see Mom and Dad again…" He whispered as he smiled softly. Just before he closed his eyes he saw a pair of figures rushing towards them as they spoke to each other in a panicked tone.

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When I woke up again I was greeted by a warm light, was I dead? Was this what heaven was like? Where was Mom and Dad? When I opened my eyes I heard the soft humming of a heater, as I sat up that was when it hit me, I was alive! Jack had done it! Someone had finally taken us in! I looked around and saw the wagon in the corner, all of the snow that had nearly covered it now melted off leaving the wagon completely soaked in water with the old blankets still inside. Now the questioned remained; "Where…am I?" I wondered aloud as I suddenly heard footsteps.

"Ah thank goodness you're awake." A man's voice said as I turned and saw a young man walk into the room smiling warmly at me dressed in a thick shirt, black pants and boots that were still shaking off the cruel snow. My jaw nearly dropped in surprise as I immediately noticed his thick furry pointed ears and a tail of the thickest crimson swaying behind him. He gazed at me with amber golden eyes wondering what I was so shocked about and then chuckled.

"Oh this must be you're first time seeing a Faunus huh? Don't worry you and you're brother are safe, my wife and I found you two while we were on our way home. And from the looks of things we found you just in time." He said as I looked down at myself as I immediately nearly dove into the blanket letting out a raspy squeal realizing that I was still naked.

"Don't worry, my wife Luna is getting some clothes you two can wear, for the time being though I'd stay huddled up in our blankets." I immediately did as he said as I shyly sank into the blankets. I watched as the man came around the couch and crouched down in front of me. I found myself transfixed by his amber eyes. It scared me seeing the warmth in his eyes as they almost reminded me of Dad.

"My name is Daniel, Daniel Fox; what's yours?" He asked as he seemed hesitant to touch me seeing how nervous I was.

I gave a slight cough as I mustered up my strength into my voice as I responded. "I'm Grace…G-Grace Spades…" I stammered as I suddenly became worried about Jack beginning to look around the room frantically.

"Where is my brother…?" I asked as I heard my own voice and realized that slipping in and out of consciousness in the back of a little kid's wagon didn't exactly leave me time to stay hydrated.

Daniel seemed to sigh with worry himself and gave me a soft smile. "Luna and I put your brother in our bedroom, he's recovering from hypothermia and a bad fever unfortunately." My eyes went wide as I stared at him.

"Is…Is he going to be alright?" I whispered as I felt my eyes blurring with sadness. I didn't want to lose my brother, it was my fault he's like this anyway. Daniel looked off towards the hall and touched my head softly caressing my hair.

"Don't worry, your brother is a fighter that's for sure so he's been recovering well." I sighed with relief at those words, at the very least Jack was going to be okay. I licked my lips as I coughed again feeling the dry irritation in my throat.

"The cold must have drained more out of you than I thought, don't worry Grace I'll go get you some water." Daniel said as he stood up and walked away into their kitchen. As I waited I heard more footsteps coming from the hallway. As I turned I saw a young woman stepping out of a room with clothes in her hands as she had similar ears and tail to Daniel. Only instead of Daniel's thick crimson color hers were more of a beautiful captivating silver which even accompanied her eyes. As she saw that I was awake she smiled with delight and walked over to me.

"Hello there, I'm Luna Fox, I'm so glad you are alive!" She said as her swaying tail was now wagging reflecting her joy. I couldn't help but smile as she walked over with a fresh set of warm clothes in her hands.

"These will have to work for now," she said as she chuckled nervously. "We can go shopping for new ones tomorrow." She said as she put the clothes in my lap and walked over to the window proceeding to pull away the curtains as I saw Faunus walking along the sidewalks and shoveling away snow. I was amazed as I saw the still brightly lit homes of families having fun with each other before they proceeded to bed themselves. As Daniel returned and gave me the glass of water I immediately took a large gulp as I couldn't tear my eyes away from the new world outside.

As Daniel looked outside he laid a hand on my shoulder. "Ms. Spades, welcome to Vytal."


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to the White Fang

_8 years later..._

8 years had passed since my older brother Jack and I had become the adopted children of Daniel and Luna Fox; the happily married Faunus couple who took us in on that fateful winter's night. It hadn't taken us long to fall in love with them as we had become incredibly comfortable with the Faunus Slums of Vytal. We had now gotten back to dealing with our own personal problems; Jack was now a brooding, strong 16 year old teenager in the midst of fighting his own war with that mythological monster we had always been told of known as puberty. Meanwhile I was in my own conflict of jumping between being a girly girl with pretty dresses and good manners to being a headstrong tomboy who had a bad habit of flirting with danger. While teenage puberty was an inevitability in my mind it was the least of my worries.

It was a crisp summers day back then when my life would begin to change; for the better or worse I never had a freaking clue but I didn't really care. Ever since we had been taken in by Luna and Daniel I had grown to have a reckless adventurous streak where I liked wandering away from our home and explored the slums. I could still see the suspicious and hostile looks that the other Faunus would give me every time I went on my "walks". Over time though they became either used to or completely indifferent to my presence as I had seen the most amazing things I had ever seen. Today was more than just one of those "walks".

As I stepped towards the plaza I saw what looked to be the largest crowd of Faunus I had ever seen. Some of them were holding up signs and yelling at some local human law enforcement that kept guard over the large settlement-like camp they had deployed within the plaza. Avoiding the glares of some of the crowd I slipped inside the local book shop where one of my most favorite people I met on my walks was standing at the counter. He peered at me with his thick feline eyes as if he were a panther inspecting a cub.

"Hi Tukson! How are you?" I said as I greeted him with my usual cheery smile. He looked away and let out an embarrassed grin as he tried his best with his usual tough guy act. That's what I always loved about Tukson, when I first met him 4 years ago he was always mean towards normal humans. Which I honestly could never blame him; it always broke my heart seeing how cruel some humans were to the local faunus. I still remember walking away from school more than once with bloody noses, bruises and black eyes simply because one of the other human kids would be bullying one of our faunus classmates.

"I don't think now is a great time to come visit and read books Grace." He grumbled as he cautiously looked outside towards the large angry crowd of Faunus men and women.

"Why what's going on? It looks like some sort of protest movement; and a lot of them are holding up signs with what looks like a blue wolf symbol on them." I asked as I peered outside at the crowds, there had been a lot of Faunus protest groups trying to gain more rights for their species over the years. Unfortunately it had never ended well for many of those groups as the cops usually ended up forcing them to scatter. This group however was the largest I had ever seen.

"That's the White Fang, they are a united group of Faunus that have existed since the war. Originally it was supposed to stand for the unity and peace that the Faunus and humanity formed when the war ended. Now? Well its this." He said as he looked at the signs with a hint of pride. My eyes sparkled with excited curiosity, a group of faunus that seemed to be successfully and peacefully fighting for the rights of their species seemed like an amazing idea to me. I looked up into Tukson's eyes and asked,

"Are they accepting human members? I'm excited to help the Faunus in whatever way I can!" Tukson sighed as he gave the emerald haired little girl before him a soft look. He had grown to like the child whom; ever since that cold winter's day 5 years ago when he had first found the child reading one of his books bundled up in a coat and scarves that were much too large for her small size. He was always met with a stubborn look of defiance in her eyes as he would throw her out day after day only to find her in his shop again over and over. He hated to admit it but he had eventually grown to tolerate the little girl letting her into his shop to read whenever she liked. It was about her smiling and her boyish grins that reminded him of his late wife who he had known in childhood for being intelligent and stubborn in everything she did.

"I don't think they want other humans around Grace, it's probably a better idea to go back home before things get dangerous." He said as the young Puma Faunus gave the little girl a stern look in his eyes. My heart sank, why would the White Fang not want humans near them? I mean you'd think they'd be delighted to have human members that accepted them for who they were. And as I gazed up at Tukson my eyes glazed over as if I was about to start crying that was when I realized something and asked.

"Are you a member of the White Fang Tukson? You seem like you know quite a bit about them." He sighed and slowly nodded as he hesitantly told me about his wife who had been the co-owner of the store until she had been murdered by some drunken men while coming out of the local nightclub. I could feel the anger rising within me as he told me the story. Who the hell does that to another living being? What gave those men the right to murder an innocent faunus woman? I immediately stopped when I heard the swishing sounds of paper being blown along to avoid making a mess of Tukson's store.

"You must really hate humans then Tukson..." I mumbled as my arms fell to my sides in defeat as I remembered the anger in his eyes when we first met. It was then that I understood the looks I had received from other Faunus locals, they were suspicious that I would do something hostile towards them.

"I don't hate all humans Grace, and besides the White Fang aren't out to kill humans; they just want humans to see them as equals." He said apologetically; afraid that he hurt my feelings.

"Then what can I do Tukson? I really want to help them make that happen...!" I said as real tears began filling my eyes. I was always disgusted seeing my own kind mistreating Faunus. In fact I always felt more in common with the Faunus than I ever did with humans ever since no human ever came to my brother and I's rescue when we were little.

He stared at me for a moment before sighing in defeat and looking around; walking towards a desk pulling out a green headband with fake cat ears on it. I stared at the headband immediately admiring at how cute it looked.

"Put this on, it will match up with you're hair plus you will blend in, but whatever you do DO NOT draw attention to yourself got it?" He said as he put it into my hands and watched me try it on. Before I could thank him I quickly asked.

"Why do you have something like this Tukson? It doesn't seem very...Faunus-like." He blushed with embarrassment; putting his hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Someone left that in here as a joke, Don't ask me why its been embarrassing keeping that stupid thing here, it'd be better with you." He said as I flashed a bright smile.

"Thank you so much Tukson! I knew you would help me!" I said turning towards the door opening it beginning to set foot outside before turning towards the young Faunus man.

"By the way, the _Third Crusade _has been a very good read so far. I wanted to thank you again for letting me keep it." I told him before closing the door and stepping towards the crowd of White Fang members. To my fortunate delight they let me into the camp welcoming me with open arms and kisses.

Inside the camp was like an entirely new world as faunus who weren't waving their signs with the others were busy spending time with their families as children of various ages ran around playing with each other. Unfortunately many of the kids weren't as entirely welcoming. Especially when I caught the eyes of one boar faunus, I could feel his glaring eyes cutting through me and staring into my soul as he stepped towards me.

"You're definitely new, and you don't smell like one of us, so who are you?!" He asked demandingly as if his sense of smell could see straight through my lie. I clenched my fists immediately going on the defense. I could feel my own temper rising again as I glared back at him.

"Hey what's your problem huh?! I'm just here to support the faunus just like the rest of you!" I growled as he began going on the offense.

"Yeah well I haven't seen you before you little bitch! So how about you get out of here and let the real Faunus do the fighting?!" He growled stepping towards me with his own fists clenched. I looked at his protruding tusks and that was when I said something I more than likely shouldn't have.

"I'd sooner see you suck on a truffle before I leave here!" I yelled as I was immediately met with a hard punch to the face causing the nearby witnesses to gasp in surprise. To my credit I had thankfully grown to understand my aura a bit at the time as I had kept accidentally making a mess inside the apartment-like home Jack and I now lived in with our new parents. The punch hadn't hurt as much as it should have because of my aura manipulation, but I was no less pissed off. I looked at the boy as I wiped the blood away from my lips that had come out of the force of his fist.

I responded in kind with my own fist to his chin as our fight immediately began in earnest. With our flurry exchange of childish punches and kicks the next thing I knew I was on the ground staring up at a sweating and angry faunus boy glaring down at me. In that moment I was more shocked than angry, faunus were surprisingly strong fighters when they needed to be.

"You're going to get it now you-ugh!" he cried as a blur of movement flashed in front of me pushing the boy away as a little girl who almost looked my age stood there.

"Why are you bullying other faunus Manny?!" She cried as I stared at her in surprise, _That girl was so fast! I didn't even sense her stepping in! _I thought as Manny tried taking a swing at the mysterious girl only for a figure of her to disappear and the real girl appear behind him pushing him down and pinning him.

"Say you're sorry!" She said as she held the boy down. He grunted before looking at me and growled out.

"I'm s-s-sorry!" He said as Blake let him go watching him run off. She sighed as she dusted off her skirt and turning to help me up.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry you got a rough welcome like that." I was shocked as I looked into her eyes, noticing her cat ears as well as her long dark hair. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. It was in that moment that I realized how jack or most boys felt when they saw a girl they liked, for me this was definitely new. What would she think of me if she knew I was human though? I had to come up with a quick lie.

"Hi I'm Gr-re-Grey-I mean Grace! G-Grace Spades..." I stammered trying to wipe the dirt from my face trying to look as clean as possible from the fight. She gave me a friendly smile and took my hand making my heart almost jump out from my chest.

"My name is Blake Belladonna, it's nice to meet you Grace." She said as she lead me under a tree and we sat down together.

"And welcome to the White Fang."

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	4. Chapter 4: Death of Grace the Cat

The next two years running with Blake and the White Fang were among some of the best in my life. I swear a single look at her would always turn me into a giggling idiot, to the credit of Jack and I we didn't grow up horrifically low on the intelligence scale, where our parents left off on our education Lily and Daniel took over. Every day I would sneak out to go their camp and hang out with Blake and help her and the other Faunus protest against some project that the city council tried putting through or against the cops. As a 14 year old girl I wasn't even at the high point of the rebellious phase in my life, although I had a few close calls of having my secret found out and losing the fake cat ears I always wore. Although during those days were also the ones where I would see him; Adam Taurus, he was a tall guy with dark red hair, dark brown eyes and he always wore a large dark coat with every outfit he wore. He was also the main person who had Blake's attention besides me which back then made me extremely jealous.

Now don't get me wrong, Adam was hot, his small bull horns that stuck out from his hair REALLY complimented the tall rogue-ish sexy bad boy look he always had going on. Although; and I never shared this with Blake but I had NEVER liked the guy, The way he had carried himself with such an irritating air of superiority, the way Blake would always come running to him whenever he called. And the way he seemed to treat her like a possession as he sweet talked her making her blush and giggle with delight always pissed me off.

"What's the story between you and Adam?" I asked Blake during one afternoon as we relaxed under a tree trying to escape the horrible summer heat. We had just finished driving away thugs belonging to some guy I hadn't known at the time named Junior Xiong. So now the other faunus had been throwing their own festival in celebration against the city's hired thugs.

"Adam and I...? when I was little his family and mine were comrades during the Faunus War, and after the war when the White Fang was formed after my parents had joined up and Adam helped teach me how to survive outside the kingdoms." Blake said as she curled up in a ball as a blush highlighted her pale face. I put on the best smile I could as I relaxed my head against her shoulder. It was clear Adam meant a lot to Blake, however everything about Adam felt wrong to me. Had I known how right I was, I would have taken Blake and ran as far away from the White Fang as I could. That was when the question that would define my future exploits came from my lips.

"Blake? What will you do to help the Faunus if the White Fang ever fails?" I asked as I felt her go stiff with shock.

"How could you suggest that Grace? It'd be devastating if the White Fang were to fail the Faunus...although..." She said before stopping herself as she fell into thought. As I was about to backtrack on my question afraid that I had hurt Blake's feelings that was when she spoke.

"Well... even if the White Fang failed, I'd do whatever I can to promote peace and equality between humanity and the faunus." She said as I could feel the warmth in her words making me relax against her again.

"What would you do for the faunus if the White Fang ever failed Grace?" I smiled as I sat up flexing my muscles.

"I'm going to be a hero of course! Being a hero to all faunus no matter who they are!" I said with a cocky grin on my face making Blake giggle.

"So are you going to become a huntress?" She asked as she looked deep into my eyes.

"Oh good lord no, I don't have the money to start that up, besides let the hunters and huntresses stand up against the Grimm, somebody has to stick up for the cute faunus boys and girls." I said as I looked at her meeting her soft smile that made my heart melt as I felt my chest get heavy. That was when she held her hand out and placed it in mine wrapping a finger around one of mine.

"In that case let's make a promise, that the both of us will do everything we can to help any faunus in need in our own way." She said making me sheepishly grin as we both sealed our promise that would set the stage for our own journeys. I immediately gave Blake a hug afterwards as I playfully kissed her cheek.

"You are already my hero Blake..." I whispered as we laid there in the grass holding each other in each others arms. Blake smiled as she caressed a lock of hair from my face gazing deep into my emerald eyes.

"Well I must be doing something right already..." She whispered as I closed my eyes in bliss. I didn't want this day to end, I didn't want the happiness I was feeling to end. Little did I know, as I would later learn, the real world had a really fucked up way of screwing people over.

_3 months later..._

"I'm going out now Mom, I'll be back later with the groceries!"I said as I put on my shoes dusting off the skirt of the dress that Lily had given me. For all they had done for Jack and I I felt ashamed for keeping secrets from them, While Jack spent quality time with Daniel Lily had taken the time to teach me how to dance...although it wasn't that often so I'm still convinced that I suck. The night she gave me the mask was one I would never forget.

_"This is for you Grace, happy birthday." Lily had said as she placed the beautiful Eastern-style fox mask in my hands. _

_"Why are you giving me this Mom?" I asked, confused why Lily was giving me the mask, it looked like something you would buy in an antique store. Lily smiled as she sat down pulling out a different mask from the chest only as a different color. _

_"I used to be a dancer of sorts at your age...and anytime my family participated at festivals I always performed the ceremonial dance of the foxes...It was one of the things that kept us at peace even in the middle of the Faunus War" She said as she told her story from when she was a child. _

_"Why give me this one though?" I asked her as I tilted my head in confusion. _

_"Well I made that one for you Grace, I've seen how angry you get anytime you see a faunus being abused or discriminated against. I've known enough about you and Jack by now to recognize that heroic fire in your eyes." She said as she stared in my eyes like she was reading my own future. _

When I arrived at the camp there was a rush of activity as faunus men and women ran back and forth loading tools onto trucks as well as crates. Just what was going on? As I saw Blake pass by I quickly stopped her.

"Hey Blake, what's going on?" I asked her as she herself seemed distracted. When she finally looked at me she smiled.

"Adam has us getting ready for a big task, the Schnee Dust Company is going to construct a new administrative headquarters near the docks. We are going to go launch a protest against the workers." She said with a smile on her face confirming that she trusted Adam's plan. I myself wasn't so sure.

"Wait why are we protesting against them? Aren't they just trying to support themselves and their families?" I asked as before Blake could answer Adam stepped forward calling to her as I noticed the sword at his side.

_What's he going to do with that...? _I thought as Blake ran over to him in her love-struck manner that broke my heart. I decided then if I was going to keep up my fake faunus identity I had to participate in the protest, although for once I was feeling very uneasy about this one. The sight of Adam's sword remained stuck in my mind as I helped a group of male and female dog faunus loading a crate onto a truck. As I climbed aboard the truck a male dog faunus opened up a crate and began passing along masks that looked frighteningly similar to Grimm masks.

"Alright everyone we are putting these on as a means to represent who we are to them now. So take one and wear it at all times during ops." He said as one was passed over to me. I stared at the mask in my hands for a moment remembering the green mask that Lily had given me that night. As I put it on over my eyes I remembered the promise that Blake and I had made that day which made my chest feel tight with pain.

"I don't like this...I really don't like this..." I mumbled as we began our journey towards the harbor port. The other occupants of the truck didn't notice my uneasiness as I felt my scroll vibrate before finally taking it out and opening it up seeing a message from Jack.

"**I'm going to the park with Mom and Dad so meet us there when you're done shopping alright?" **

As far as I was concerned I was going to be lucky enough to make it back to them alive. And that was when I saw the snowflake signifying the Atlesian conglomerate known as the Schnee Dust Company. Once the trucks came to a stop and we filed out ready to begin our protest, as expected I saw armed men and women dressed in Atlesian combat armor with the Schnee snowflake on their chests run out of their makeshift barracks with rifles and riot shields at the ready.

"The Schnee's have no place here! Take their liens somewhere else where it doesn't involve slave labor!" I heard someone cry out as he raised his sign of protest. As this thought penetrated my mind I peeked over the crowd as best I could, to my shock there were indeed various groups of faunus inside dressed in construction uniforms. They could only stare at the armed security forces and the group of protesters at the gates with what looked to me almost like fear. Just what the hell was going on? Finally a young man dressed in a snow white uniform stepped out signaling a gesture for peace.

"What's the meaning of this?" He said as he looked around at the group of angry protesters before him.

"I wasn't aware we'd be having an extra labor force arriving today." He said as he reached into his coat and took out a cigar lighting it and taking a puff. As I saw Adam step forward towards the man the uneasiness in my stomach grew, wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful protest?!

"I suppose I am to assume that you are the leader of this farce then?" The man said as Adam Taurus stared at him blankly from behind his mask.

"I'm going to request that you let your employees leave for the day sir." He said as he spoke in a calm but frighteningly cold demeanor. The man seemed taken aback by his request as he stared at Adam.

"Are you suggesting that I would use those flea-bitten rapscallions as slaves? My good man those men and women are paid employees who have been working by the requested hours that I have given them!" He said as he glared at Adam with a sneer.

"Hours that are in violation of the rules set by the Vale Kingdom Labor Union Charter." Adam said matter-of-factly making the man wince even further. The crowd could only watch their exchange as I felt my own nerves begin to wear thin. Why did it feel like Adam was goading him into becoming angry? As I felt sweat pour down my neck that was when I saw the action that set off a horrible spark as the man's pale face turned a beet red of anger.

"I, William Schnee will not tolerate this bullying from some filthy faunus thug like you! Just take this and leave me to my work!" He cried as he reached into his coat to pull something out, however whatever that was I never found out as I blinked and then I saw Adam's sword impale through his chest. Both sides seemed to gasp as the young Schnee coughed up blood briefly gasping in shock before he died and Adam shoved his corpse to the ground.

"You murdered him!" I heard one of the rent-a-soldiers cry out as she leveled her rifle, and what happened next was utterly chaotic.

Our peaceful protest turned into a raging riot as they charged the construction site. I myself; feeling my body trembling with fear backed away from the crowd as quickly as I could. And as I began to turn and flee I heard Blake calling out to me trying to locate me in the crowd as they stormed the site. And when I looked over and saw her staring at me even through her mask I could tell that she was frightened and confused. I couldn't keep up this lie anymore, I had to get away, get back to Lily, Daniel and Jack as fast as possible.

"Grace! Grace where are you going?!" She cried trying to work her way over to me. As the words rose up in my throat I could only say nothing as I took off my mask, threw it to the ground and fled for my life. And little did I know that the troubles that day were only beginning.

As I arrived back in the Faunus slums I saw that the riot had spread there as well as police were struggling to contain the various angry groups. To my credit as I had been practicing my semblance while living in the slums I was able to glide my way through the chaos easily dodging looters and the like. And that was when I heard gunfire ringing out in the park and remembered that's where Jack was with our adopted parents.

"No...No no no please be okay...!" I muttered as I threw off my fake cat ears rushing to the park as fast as I could. When I arrived however I could only stand there as the tears poured down my cheeks. I had never felt so helpless, like somehow it was my fault. Before my eyes was my older brother Jack covered in blood crying out for help as Lily and Daniel, the kind fox faunus couple who had saved our lives that fateful winters night lay motionless before him. Our family had been taken away...all over again.


	5. Chapter 5: A Fox's Beacon

_3 years later….._

Three years had passed since that horrific day when I left Blake behind. And because of what Adam had caused; Jack and I were now orphans once again. Although this time we had the means to take care of ourselves. After Luna and Daniel had died and we had gotten to safety I told him everything, how I got fake cat ears, how I got into the White Fang, how I met Blake, and Adam. I still remember that look of upset rage he had given me that day, like he had blamed me for their deaths. Honestly I didn't blame him for that, I watched one world I had grown to love being at Blake's side crumble only to come back and find my other one completely destroyed.

Ever since then, as the mood of the Faunus Slums grew worse and worse and the White Fang were very frighteningly growing rapidly into a well-armed group of terrorists; we decided to agree on doing whatever we could to protect the people of the city, I wanted to protect all of the Faunus while Jack wanted to protect everyone. So; at least in the eyes of the local cops we became vigilantes, just a couple of do-gooders skirting around the law to do what we thought was right. At least in my opinion it was doing what Adam and the White Fang failed to achieve miserably. I mean all the hunters and huntresses were out killing the monsters outside the city so someone had to pick up the slack that the cops had trouble doing inside the city right?

As we grew older though that was when things started becoming more new for me, puberty had hit me harder than an Ursa hunting for honey and so before I realized it I started checking out the first attractive boy or girl that stepped around the corner. The swimsuit and porn magazines made it so much worse as through the years and nights we spent taking down local gangsters as they tried stealing all the Dust shipments that came into the Kingdom from Atlas. The broadcasts on the local news even gave us more of a reputation within the city; Jack had been dubbed "Shark Mouth" for the large bandana he kept wrapped around the lower half of his face covering his mouth as in its place on the bandana was a large monstrous mouth with rows of shark teeth. While I on the other hand had kept the mask Luna had given me near and dear to my heart as I always wore it on our stakeouts and raids giving me the name "Green Fox". Just hearing the things people and faunus alike said about us warmed my heart to the core.

And although the media had given us near-celebrity stardom on TV it also made the cops even more aggressive in trying to catch us. Azura Javert, a gorgeous detective who had been placed in charge of our immediate capture was always seen on TV when it came to the news stories involving Jack and I. The first time she had given a speech at a press conference on TV, neither of us could look away, I'm not sure what was more attractive about her, her confidence or that sparkling light blue hair of hers. Although to my amusement my dearest brother on the other hand who had been both a loner and my guardian ever Mom and Dad died was smitten. Something I've never stopped teasing him about to this very day.

As for me though at the age of 16 I began wondering if the vigilante life was right. With all of our narrow escapes from the cops and the things we heard from our 'critics' always left me with pains of doubt in my chest. Were we really heroes? Or were we no better than the thugs we were beating? And so ever since we started our careers as vigilantes I decided to learn the proper skills to do that, Signal Academy was like a whole other world, although it was expensive. And for the benefit of both Jack and I I began taking bits of the money he earned during his regular day job while I wandered the streets. It's something I've never forgiven myself for but it was something I needed, I learned the fighting skills of a huntress and had even created my own weapon that I had dubbed the Emerald Viper. Finally one day I had seen an application to attend the one school that I believed could help me protect the Faunus better, and for all I knew I could leave all of the horrid memories of losing both of my parents and Blake behind. However I hesitated as I filled it out and took the exams as I wondered what Jack would think.

It was then during the following year as I had turned 17 blossoming in a curvy body I was immensely proud of on the night of our last raid that everything changed.

"Looks like….30….45 of Junior's thugs. Possibly a few dozen more inside the warehouse, what do you think Jack?" I said as I spoke through the comm mic I added to my mask watching the robbery take place on the shipping warehouse as I sat crouched on top of a stack of shipping containers.

"_It must be a helluva busy night for them then especially since they got put on Roman Torchwick's payroll, can you see what sort of heat they are packing this time Grace?" _Jack said as he responded through our communications link. I quickly did a thorough sweep of the area with binoculars.

"Looks like a higher pay grade than your standard thug, lots of military-grade weaponry; probably Atlesian, maybe Roman's got some contacts in the military smuggling them out to him."

"_Well word is that Roman's been hitting businesses across the whole city for Dust consecutively, it still doesn't change the fact that he won't be getting this. Anyway I can already see you're in position, I'm moving up now so start the party whenever you're ready sis." _

_ "_I'm always ready big bro..." I said as a smirk played across my lips as I channeled my aura in preparation for what was going to be a very rough entrance. I had even practiced with my semblance more ever since I been attending Signal Academy and had gotten much better. As I jumped from the containers I felt the wind pick up slowing my fall as if it had caught me into an embrace allowing me to glide to my destination. I quickly closed my eyes bracing for impact and crashed through the sky light of the warehouse hearing a thud as I landed in the middle of quite a bit of very surprised thugs. I opened my eyes and looked around at them.

"Hey boys anyone wanna dance?" I said as I pulled out my weapon twirling it in my hand as I activated its function allowing it to transform out of its standby form and into is standard form.

"Fuck its that stupid fox!" One of them cried out as they took out their weapons and the fight began.

I ducked under the machete swing of one of them as others lifted up their stolen rifles and opened fire on me. As I slid under a trio of idiots who were feeling brave at taking me down and quickly brought them down to my level with a kick. As I got into cover I heard Jack kick a door open as one of the guards outside came flying through as Jack fired off his handgun cutting down the thugs who were rushing to me. I quickly gave him a thumbs up as I loaded Emerald Viper, rose up from cover and began firing and spraying bullets to sweep the room. This sent some of the black suited thugs diving for cover as others went down from the hits crying out in agony while others were killed. As the survivors quickly rose from their hiding places I looked over at Jack.

"Well we might as well leave the cops with some living people to arrest right?" He nodded as I channeled my aura into using my semblance causing a gust of wind to blow through the open window and the open doorway lifting them up and tossing them backwards into each other and some containers behind them.

"Well those guys are gonna be sore as hell in prison." I said as I looked at the containers containing the Schnee Dust Company on them quietly shivering as the sight of Adam cutting down William and the screams that followed played through my mind.

"Fucking spoiled rich pricks..." I muttered as I felt Jack tap me on the shoulder.

"We should get out of here, the cops are probably on their way so we should get out of the dock yards now." I nodded and followed him outside. As we began leaving the dockyards we both heard sounds of thunder as we turned and saw a nearby VTOL within the city flying away.

"Looks like Roman is done for the night...sucks that we couldn't be there to stop him." I said as I took off my mask and looked at him.

"Yeah...actually I've found something out recently." He said as we stopped on a rooftop and looked at each other.

_Found something out…? Wait a minute…_ I thought as my nerves quickly began building and he turned and gave me a frown with a look of disappointment. That was when I saw the graded entrance exam for Beacon Academy in his hands and I felt sweat pouring down my face.

"I've been noticing that quite a bit of my money went missing, for a while I wondered why and when I realized it was you I was actually going to yell at you about it but instead..." he said as he reached out with his hand as I winced closing my eyes waiting for my punishment to come. Instead I felt his hand going through my hair lightly ruffling it.

"You know what you did is called 'embezzling' right? You'd normally be thrown in jail for something like that." He said as I yelped at the thought of being in jail with a bunch of psychotic and crazy and….sexy~...no! No! Now is not the time for my mind to go into the gutter!

"I…! I j-just wanted-" I stammered as Jack held up his hand and smiled softly.

"I'm proud of you Grace….you are on your way to better things than running around on the streets dodging cops..." He said before he pulled me into a tight hug.

"I...I didn't know what you'd think about it..." I mumbled as I felt my cheeks become flushed. As he looked in my eyes I could swear I saw the old Jack I knew as a little kid, just sitting around in the cabin as he read me bed time stories.

"You're leaving for Beacon tomorrow aren't you?" He said as I slowly nodded; tears of joy welling up in my eyes as he wiped them from my cheeks. He was proud of me! He wasn't going to toss me over to the cops for using his money to pay off my school tuition! I had never felt so relieved in all my life.

"Well I guess we better head home so you can get some sleep for your big day tomorrow right?" he asked as we both began hearing police sirens all over the city as the closest ones came rushing for the dock yards where we just were. I giggled as I looked at him with a teasing smirk.

"Yeah we'd better get home before your detective girlfriend slaps cuffs on both of us~!" Jack blushed and lightly slugged me in the arm as we dashed for home.

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The next day was almost like a dream, as I stared outside at the giant transport ship flying into port to pick up the new weary students of Beacon Academy I felt Jack pat me on the head.

"You'll do fine" He said as I turned and looked at him, a concerned look in my eyes as the weight of how much I'd miss him came crashing down on me.

"What about you Jack?" I asked as I fought back the tears I knew were trying to come through only to see him smirk.

"I think I'll keep going as Sharkmouth for a while...but as for you, its time to put down the mask and allow the Green Fox to sleep. Instead its time for Grace Spades to find life as a huntress." He said as he gazed into my eyes. As dorky deep as that sounded to me I couldn't help but smile as we said our goodbyes and I stepped onto the ship waving goodbye to my beloved older brother and my old life even as it became smaller and smaller from the windows.

**Hey guys! Sorry this one took a long while, there isn't much dialogue in this simply because I wanted to summarize what Grace and Jack had been doing ever since the riots ended and Luna and Daniel were killed. And for those of you wondering where the story is going this was just to show Grace's perspective on things before she goes to Beacon. From here on the story will be more somewhat in line with RWBY volume 1 so for now stay tuned!**


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